Potentially the most annoying part of being a college student is the constant questioning about your life in college from everyone. Your parents, grandparents, neighbors, coworkers, Starbucks barista and all eight members of your mom’s book group are dying to know everything. They grill you about roommates, classes and internships. Perhaps the most daunting question of all, though, is the one that you’re asked constantly – “what’s your major?”
Even before arriving at College of Charleston, I was asked about my major an overwhelming amount of times. Having very little idea of what I want to do when I graduate, this question instilled a great amount of panic in me. I was so jealous of the upperclassmen who seemed so confident in their majors, especially those who had double majors, minors or even both. I felt so much pressure to declare my major as soon as possible and, more than that, I thought that it had to be the perfect major.
I didn’t realize how wrong this assumption was.
As a freshman, I had the perception that I would go to college, graduate in four years, and then immediately jump into whatever career I had decided would be the one for me. What I didn’t realize then was how unrealistic those expectations are. No one’s life is going to follow such a formulaic path. My roommate switched her major three times freshman year. I have a few friends who are still completely undecided.
I declared my English major before the end of my first semester at college. I didn’t do this because I have always wanted to be a teacher, publisher or journalist. I still have no career in mind and really no idea where I’ll be after graduation in a few years. I chose English because I’ve always loved reading and writing. I thought it would be much more enjoyable to read the work of British Romantics and write short stories than to be laboring over calculus problems. I chose my major not because it correlates with some pre-set idea of what I want my future career to be, but because I am genuinely interested in it. I find literature, poetry and history to be fascinating, and I am excited by the possibility of spending the next few years studying them.
If there’s one piece of advice I would give to incoming freshmen, it would be this: your college major does not define the rest of your life. In fact, another main reason I was attracted to the English major was because I saw it as an “everything” major. There are English majors in my classes who want to go to medical school, are interested in arts management and who wish to become teachers. There are also some who, like me, flounder between publishing, writing, editing or whatever unexpected opportunity pops up at the right time.
It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that choosing your major is equivocal to stepping off a cliff into an unknown, scary future, but it’s not. Take these four years to pursue your interests and to develop new ones. Take advantage of all opportunities that come your way, even if it doesn’t seem like something you would usually do. College is the perfect time to try everything, so don’t limit yourself because you think that’s what’s expected of you.
Good luck, and here’s to another great semester!
HCXO